Queens of the Stone Age Come Back Swinging with “The Way You Used To Do”

In terms of rock n roll bands, I consider Queens of the Stone Age to be one of my first loves. Around the time that I started to get in to them when I was a teenager, they already had an impressive discography for me to dive into. They had tracks that were fast, razor-blade sharp, and oozed sex appeal. Josh Homme and co were to me what Zeppelin and Hendrix were to my dad’s generation.

When they announced that they were working with Mark Ronson on their latest album Villains, I was mixed at best. Coming off 2013’s powerful …Like Clockwork and Homme’s recent colloboration with Iggy, it seemed like teaming up with Ronson could be a massive misstep. Ronson has some respectable credits here and there – his work on the Black Lips Arabia Mountain made me start to take them more seriously as a band and the Amy Winehouse records do have some lasting appeal – but then there’s also “Uptown Funk” and Lady Gaga’s Joanne……all of which are cookie cutter pop bullshit. I was hoping for a situation like the Black Lips would arise out of this situation, but given Ronson’s recent output, I didn’t think the odds were stacked in my favor.

Then the band dropped their first single “The Way You Used To Do” and my expectations improved. Drastically.

Queens’ songs have always had an infectious swing to them but on the new track, that swing is brought front and center like never before. The band has never been short on swagger and it’s as if Ronson’s production style is able to amplify that in a way that makes the band’s music more danceable than before. If this is what the rest of the album sounds like, then I’m more than happy to see where this goes. Listen below and come along with. Villains is available August 25 wherever records are sold. Homme and co and touring throughout the year, but not a single date for Nashville has been announced so far.